“I never tell anyone at a cocktail party that I’m an expert on regrets.” Amy Summerville ’02, a social psychologist who leads the Regret Lab at Miami University in Ohio.
“It was like we were waiting for paint to dry. Literally.” Rilla McKeegan ’21, on coloring sections of a Slinky toy for a design-your-own-adventure project for Physics 123 “The Newtonian Synthesis: Dynamics of Particles and Systems, Waves.”
NOTE: During the 2018 Undergraduate Awards, McKeegan was awarded the Bassett Physics Prize given to students who have “distinguished themselves by the excellence and maturity of their performance in the class and laboratory work of the first course in physics.” [Learn more]
“The only way to describe it is ‘Kafkaesque.’ ” Professor Geoffrey Woglom on the firestorm Andreas Georgiou ’83 entered after recalculating the Greek deficit. Woglom and Georgiou will speak at Reunion 2018. See the full schedule.
“Nonfiction is like those TV contests where you get a basket of pre-chosen ingredients to cook with...Fiction, on the other hand. My god! There are no constraints.” Catherine Newman ’90, essayist and memoirist, on the challenges of writing her first novel.
Nations and states represented by this year’s seniors: 29 countries (including Australia, Botswana, China, Germany, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Nepal, South Africa, Switzerland and Taiwan) and 41 U.S. states and territories. The Class of 2018 and Commencement, By the Numbers
“I turned to my father and listened carefully to his parting words: Kol ma yatamanah almar’ yedrekoh. ‘Everything a person dreams of can be realized.’ ” Mohamed Ahmed Ramy ’18 addressing his classmates at Senior Assembly.
“To keep both our focus and sense of humor, we describe our project as one to save the Earth in two years, and then we will move on to save Mars or Venus.” — Foster “Butch” Brown ’73, an environmental geochemist, speaking about his collaborative environmental work in the Amazon rainforest.
By joining with four peer schools in a pioneering partnership, Amherst College will replace nearly half its energy use with solar power—and reduce its carbon footprint by 17.5 percent. Learn More About the Partnership.
Like. Little. Upon. One. Words most used by Emily Dickinson. Students in Data Science taught by Professor of Statistics Nick Horton, studied Emily Dickinson, not just as a poet, but as the generator of a complex data set.
“The College’s distinctive combination of core values—critical thinking, persistent questioning, pursuit of truth, freedom of inquiry, freedom of expression, equity, civility, and friendship—is never more important.” President Biddy Martin, announcing the start of the College’s new fundraising campaign.
NOTE: The Promise campaign launched this weekend with talks, performances and a dinner.